I Rely On You
by Fiwen2
Summary: This story takes place before and during the quest. What will happen to Camellia, Merry and Pippins friend, when the two hobbits she rely on leave for a life endangering quest? RR please. it would be greatly appreciated.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Wish I owned...but I don't....nope nope no Pippin for me.........  
  
A/N: Well guys this is my first shot at a Lord of the Rings fanfiction (actually I've written quite a few but have never been brave enough to post the on ff.net ^-^) And if you like the story, please review. And if you have an interest for Inuyasha fanfics read my other sory;) And this story takes place when Pippin was about twelve so they were young. Have Fun! PS If anybody knows how to make italics would ya tell me? Thanks a bunch!  
  
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"Meriadoc Brandybuck! Peregrin Took! Camellia Millstone! If I catch ya here again I'll have your heads!" an angry Farmer Maggot yelled after three young retreating hobbits. After leaving the boundaries of Farmer Maggots land, the three young hobbits stopped at the foot of a large tree, panting.  
  
"Nice one Cam! Too bad you dropped all the potatoes back there!", Pippin said in a mock-angry tone.  
  
"Oh be quiet Pip. You ran like a scared little girl when he let the dogs loose.", was the playful response that came from Camellia, a Hobbit that was as old as Pippin, which was twelve years old at the time.  
  
"You're a girl", stated Merry matter-of-factly, which only earned a grunt from the direction of the young Took. "Watch it Pip, she'll beat ya to a pulp."  
  
"Yes I will, and don't you forget it. Now lets head home before it gets dark." Camellia said while getting up and brushing her old, ratty dress off.  
  
"Of course Mother." Pippin responded sarcastically, earning a laugh from Merry and Cam.  
  
"Well it's just that I have to cook dinner for the family tonight and I'm already late as it is."  
  
"Oh come now Cam, Bywater isn't to far from Bag-End and we are staying at Frodo's for a while." Merry said while helping Pippin up from the ground.  
  
"I know, but you know how Pop and Bolo get when I don't have dinner ready on time. Besides, I'll see you tomorrow. Rosie and I are going to the market in the mornin' though. You guys wanna come with us? It'll only take a few minutes."  
  
"Sure why not? Frodo and Bilbo aren't gonna be at Bag-End tomorrow, so we don't have anything better to do." said Pippin tossing an apple to Camellia.  
  
"Oh. Well I know when someone doesn't want to spend time with me. My best friends too. Just don't bother comin' with me to the market tomorrow." Cam said collapsing on the ground and breaking into mock-tears.  
  
"Well look what you've done Pippin, you've made her cry." Merry stated, lightly kicking Cam's shaking body on the ground. "Well let's go" he said lightly, knowing that the tears were fake, and he and Pippin slowly started to walk off, chuckling to their selves.  
  
"Wait!" Cam called after them, quickly hopping up from her spot on the ground.  
  
When she caught up to them, she simply stated "D'you guys wanna come over for dinner tonight? I mean, if Mr. Frodo and Bilbo don't mind."  
  
"Sure, we'll go ask 'em. Wanna come with us?" "Okay, lets make it quick though, we gotta get to Bywater soon."  
  
"Alright, but I still don't see how we'll get from Bag-End to Bywater before dark. I mean Hobbiton is one thing, but if we don't make it before sundown we won't be able to cross Bywater Pool."  
  
"I've crossed Bywater Pool before in the dark, it's not that big of a deal." Cam replied nonchalantly. "Well let's get goin' you guys", and with that Cam ran ahead of the two other hobbits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Thirty Minutes Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Well look on the bright side, Pip. Mr. Frodo didn't mind that you stay at Bywater 'till tomorrow." Camellia yelled over the raging storm.  
  
"Yeah, well the downside is that the only reason we have to stay at your house is because we're caught in this storm" answered Pippin.  
  
The three continued to trudge to Bywater Pool through the furious storm, with Camellia at the head of the group. "Come on guys we're almost there!" she shouted at Merry and Pippin. But before she could reach the edge of Bywater Pool, she suddenly stopped. A large branch was dangling from a tree, threatening to break off, and before she could get off of the trail, the branch snapped off leaving a very frightened Cam looking on in horror. But before she could scream to the others to get off the trail, the branch collided with her, knocking her unconscious and sending her flying into the body of water. There was one problem. No one in the group could swim. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter:-/  
  
A/N: Thanks to my first and only reviewer so far:FordTruckGirl4T! Thanks so much so brownies for you! *shoves brownies onto monitor* well...I tried...hehe ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Camellia groggily opened her eyes and slowly adjusted to the light surrounding her. She was not in her own room, and she slowly tried to remember what happened. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Merry and Pippin watched in horror at the scene unfolding before them. Cam , THEIR Cam, had been sent tumbling into Bywater Pool. It was quite deep this time of year, and Merry and Pippin knew neither of them could save her if they went into the large body of water. But before Pippin could register this, he looked over at Merry who was quickly making his way to the pool.  
  
"Merry!", Pippin shouted at the clearly delirious Hobbit, "You'll get killed if you try goin' in there in this weather!"  
  
"What else do you suppose we do? She'll die if we don't hurry! She'll float right down to the Brandywine!"  
  
Pippin looked on in shock as Merry hurriedly ran to the edge of the large pool and found what he was looking for. Camellia's limp body was slowly making its way to the river leading into the Brandywine. He yelled at Pippin to come quickly and the younger, flabbergasted hobbit, quickly made his way to Merry's side. Merry lowered himself into the pool with Pippin making sure he didn't go down the Brandywine river. Merry retrieved Cam's limp body from the freezing water and yelled for Pippin to take her so he could get out of the water. Pippin did so, cringing when he saw the face of Cam, his best friend apart from Merry, and cringed. She was already pale and was shivering uncontrollably, despite her unconsciousness, and had a large gash above her left eye. Merry and Pippin took turns in carrying her almost lifeless body to Bag-End, the only place they could reach in time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The first thing Camellia tried to do was stand up, and that was a mistake. She immediately fell to the ground below her bed, causing a loud thump to echo through her room. Frodo heard this and rushed into the room Camellia was staying in, causing Cam to blush with embarrassment.  
  
"Oh Mr. Baggins I'm sorry to have disturbed you." she said quickly, not forgetting her manners, despite her weak state.  
  
Frodo chuckled at the name she addressed him as and simply told her to call him Frodo. For the first time in a while, he had really seen what Camellia looked like. She was such a tomboy, wearing the only dress she owned, just because her father said 'her mother would've liked it that way'. Acting like a girly-girl that is. Her dress was tattered and worn and Frodo made a mental note to talk to Rosie about getting her a new one for her thirteenth birthday. She was plain looking, with shoulder length wavy brown hair, not extremely curly, like the other Hobbit lasses. Her blue eyes were scanning the room frantically, as if looking for something, or someone.  
  
"Here let me help you." Frodo said politely, helping her onto a large armchair in the corner of the room, near a bookcase.  
  
"Thank you Mr. Ba-- Mr. Frodo" she replied, correcting herself.  
  
Frodo just chuckled and rolled his eyes. 'She reminds me of Sam', he thought, 'Never calls me just Frodo.'  
  
"Excuse me, Mister Frodo, but if you don't mind, could you maybe get Merry and Pippin for me?" Cam asked, "If there here I mean", she quickly added.  
  
"Of course their here, they haven't left your side, there just in the kitchen now. Ill go and get them." He replied, and smiled when he saw a huge smile light up her face.  
  
Camellia was humming a song her mother taught her in the oversized armchair when Merry and Pippin walked in. Even being such young Hobbit's the bond the three had was unbreakable. They never went anywhere without the other, and seeing Cam in the state she was in gave them both a shock back to reality. The three hugged and talked until Bilbo came in announcing supper, and for the first time in many years, Camellia would have to admit something to herself. The guilt rising in her chest was almost to much to bear. Tonight she would tell Merry and Pippin the only secret she had kept from them since they had become best friends. And it scared her. 


	3. Chapter 3: Facing the Facts

Disclaimer: Nope...still don't own 'em........*runs away with picture of Dom*  
  
A/N: I got a review about Merry not knowing how to swim...well they're still young now (Pippin is thirteen so Merry is twenty-one *correct me if I'm wrong about that*) so I made this before Merry learned how to swim. It's a small mistake and I'm truly sorry about it! Oh and thanks to my reviewers:  
  
FordTruckGirl4TA: Kath!!! Thanks so much for your review and I'm glad we've been able to become friends, thanks to our strange obsession with Merry and Pip ;)  
  
Rambling Thestral: Awww thanks for the applause!! Thanks for the wonderful review!  
  
Ajaron: Thanks for the review! Im glad you could figure out the italics...I know I still cant lol. I just figured out how to transfer my word perfect document into a microsoft word document. ^_^  
  
Well...On to Chapter 3!! Enjoy! ****  
  
Camellia absentmindedly ate her meal while the others happily talked about the happenings in the Shire. Her mind was wandering other places, she was wondering if she should tell Merry and Pippin what she was told by Fred Broadbelt, the Bywater doctor, just a few years ago. ***  
  
"Mister Millstone?"  
  
Falco Millstone looked up from his young daughter laying on the bed, asleep.  
  
"Have you found out what was wrong with her?" Falco asked, the nervousness etched in his voice.  
  
"This may be a little off subject, but did you say that your wife died not long ago?"  
  
"Yes", he started, anger rising in his voice, "She died two years ago."  
  
"Can you tell me what her symptoms were?" he asked, sitting down across from the worried father.  
  
"She became sick all of a sudden. She just became weak and slept most of the day. Sometimes she would go days without eating. And she would usually have long coughing fits." he answered, realization setting in.  
  
"And your daughter?" He asked.  
  
Falco did not answer. He knew the same thing was happening to his daughter, he just didn't want to admit it. He stood up and showing the doctor to the door asked, "What can I do to help?"  
  
"Nothing. Just make her rest and she will be fine. Don't allow her to spend much time outside until she is not showing any symptoms. And even then do not let her do anything that might make her even slightly sick."  
  
Falco just nodded and walked outside with the doctor.  
  
"What am I supposed to tell her? And her brother? That she'll die like her mother so you better spend time with her?" he asked angrily, the stress of the situation finally getting to him.  
  
"Just tell them the truth, Falco. Your daughters strong, she can take it" he answered, turning away and walking down the long path leading out of the Bywater home.  
  
"Tell her the truth", Falco said to himself, "You make it sound so easy." **** And now Camellia sat at the table with the hobbits that were the most special to her, and she was about to tell them what the doctor told her father so many years ago. 'Well I don't HAVE to tell them', she thought to herself, 'They're happy not knowing. It's not their problem anyway...It's mine.'  
  
Merry saying her name quickly brought her out of her thoughts.  
  
"Cam!! Woohoo!! Wake up in there!!" Merry yelled right into her ear.  
  
"Oi! I'm right here Merry! No need to yell." Cam said, rubbing her ears.  
  
"Well you were in your own little world there for a while." Merry said, still eating.  
  
"Sorry I was just-"  
  
"Thinking", Frodo finished for her.  
  
Camellia just nodded. She was still a little nervous around Frodo and Bilbo. She thought they were both so wise and caring. She knew she would end up being a maid or something like it, everyone in her family had ended up being a maid or a gardener or some kind of servant like it. Camellia wasn't ashamed, she just felt inferior sometimes. That didn't bother her, though, she had always been different. The other girls in the Shire that knew her looked down upon her because of her tomboy-ish self and that she was always with Merry and Pippin. She had friends that were girls...only two though. Rosie was one of her good friends and Katherine, who lived in Bywater, was one of Cam's closest friends. Rosie met Camellia thanks to Samwise, and Cam and Kath met after Cam got in a fight with Kath's older brother. Camellia and Katherine became close friends almost immediately, and Cam thought of Rosie as an older sister. No one could take the place of Merry and Pippin, though, and soon it would be Pippin's fourteenth birthday, which meant Cam's fourteenth birthday would be soon after that. And not long after would be Merry's twenty-second birthday. 'Maybe then Kath would actually tell Merry how much she likes him. It's sickening when she's around him sometimes.' she chuckled to herself, causing the heads of everyone to turn and look at her.  
  
"Sorry." she mumbled, taking a bite of her meal.  
  
Soon everyone was getting up putting their plates in the kitchen and Camellia got ready to head home.  
  
"Well, I'll guess I'll be going now, Pop'll be really worried right now. Thank you for letting me stay here." she said to Frodo and Bilbo, walking out the door.  
  
"Wait for us!" Pippin and Merry yelled, running after her, "Bye Frodo! Thanks Bilbo!" they yelled back at Bag-End.  
  
The three Hobbit's walked quietly to Bywater, leaving Camellia to her thoughts. She hesitated before Bywater Pool, but made it over safe enough. Not a few feet away from the Millstone's hobbit hole, was a nervous Katherine pacing around in a circle. As soon as she caught sight of the three hobbits walking towards her, she ran up to Camellia.  
  
"Where have you been? Why were you out all night? Do you know how worried your Father has been?" she shouted at a dumbfounded Cam.  
  
"I-I-I'm sorry." she managed to get out, amazed and a little frightened by Kath's reaction, but smiled when she saw Kath's attention turn to Merry.  
  
"Camellia Millstone! You get in here this minute!" Falco Millstone yelled from the doorway, clearly fuming with anger. Camellia and Katherine cringed, knowing that her Father was more angry about her risking her health in the storm last night, rather than her being away all night, and just getting home now. Katherine was the only other person who knew about Cam's health, she found out when she overheard a conversation between Cam and her Father about it. Camellia's older brother, Bolo, came out of the doorway and walked over to the four saying, "Merry, Pippin, Katherine...you should go now." and walking back to the house, leading Camellia behind him. She desperately looked back at Merry and Pippin, and prepared to face her Father. ****  
  
Hope you enjoyed that chapter! It gave a little background on Cam so maybe it'll help. Please review! It would be greatly appreciated. 


	4. Chapter 4: I'm coming

Disclaimer: .........well I do own a permanent marker and a some posters of Orlando Bloom.....no wait.....the markers my moms and the poster's were Christmas gifts..ok then back to the usual disclaimer, I don't own anything!  
  
A/N: Well, this is meant to be an angsty type chapter but forgive me if it's crappy..im trying to get better at writing angst I promise!!! Oh yea...this is gonna be really short but it'll lead into a bigger chapter I promise ^_^ *dodges vegetables* wait!! I SAID vegetables!! Tomatoes are a fruit! ...right? *angry shouts of no are heard from reviewers..all *counts on fingers* ok not a lot of them*  
  
****  
  
Camellia slowly walked inside and braced herself for the fighting yet to come. She looked up at her father and to her suprise, he just embraced her, and she hugged him back. 'I'm sorry Papa' was all she could say to him, and Cam slowly backed away.  
  
"I thought-" Falco started, the anger in him diminishing by the second as he saw his daughter standing in front of him. She was safe.  
  
"I know Papa....I was careless..I'll never stay out that late again. It's just the storm and, well I just lost track of time." Camellia managed to say, knowing that despite her fathers good mood, she would soon have to face her father's angry shouts. She would have to learn not to be so careless, and then maybe she would not have to face the ranting of her Father . Cam heard her father shouting at her lack of responsibility, but it was all fading away. Camellia strained to look ahead of her, yet everything in the small room was blurring together and losing shape.  
  
'Not now!' she inwardly screamed. 'Papa was right, I am getting sick again, and I was to foolish to realize it' Cam thought, falling to the ground, cringing in pain, hitting a vase in the process. The fragile object crashed into pieces around the table, the crash echoing throughout the room. A shard of the vase embedded itself into her leg, going unnoticed by the other occupants of the room.  
  
Bolo quickly ran over to his sister and put his hands under her head while Falco ran to her, and gathering her in his arms, quickly rushed to Camellia's room.  
  
Falco and Bolo looked down at Camellia, pain etched on her face.  
  
"What can we do, Father?" Bolo asked looking up at Falco, a look of worry on his face.  
  
"Nothing, Bolo. We can't do anything." Falco answered looking back at his son.  
  
Both of their heads turned back to Camellia though, when they heard her muttering something that they couldn't understand. Falco managed to hear the last thing she incoherently said and closed his eyes when he felt tears threatening to fall.  
  
'Mama' was what she murmured, 'I'm coming Mama'  
  
Yayfor the fourth chapter!! Pleaseeee review!!! I don't want to beg or anythi- oh what the heck, I'm begging!! ^_^ 


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